Volume 1, Chapter 8 – The Question of NPC Leveling Up

“Mmgh…”

Finally, after finishing the stick sweet bun she had bought from the NPC vendor, Tianyin couldn’t help but let out a satisfied sound.

At the same time, the word “Hunger,” which had been displayed on her Status Bar, instantly vanished the moment she started eating.

Before this, Tianyin had actually been worried that if her hunger status kept going, her HP might really get drained all the way to zero.

But now that the status had disappeared, that sense of danger, like a Damocles’ sword hanging over her head, had finally been lifted.

“Phew… I didn’t expect the bun here to be this good~”

Although her hunger was gone, Tianyin still felt a bit unsatisfied.

When she was still a boy, she had never been that fond of sweet food. But ever since she became a loli, she somehow found herself liking sweets more and more.

“Right? If Xiaoyin still wants some, Sister Xiaomu can buy you more~”

“Uh… no, it’s fine. I’m already full.”

Even though she did want more, Tianyin felt too embarrassed to admit it.

“Hm? Really don’t want any more?”

“Ugh… n-no, I’m fine…”

“I see… and here I was planning to let Xiaoyin try even tastier desserts~”

“Eh… d-desserts… even tastier… desserts…”

The moment she heard the words “even tastier desserts,” an irresistible craving stirred in Tianyin’s heart.

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“Xiaoyin… what’s wrong? Didn’t you say you didn’t want any?”

“U-uh… I-I just…”

Remembering how she had just said she didn’t need any, Tianyin’s small face turned pink.

“Desserts… I’m just… just a little curious, that’s all…”

“Really? Then why do you look like you really want to eat them?”

“I-I don’t!”

Her voice wavered with zero confidence.

Seeing Tianyin glance at her over and over, Xingyu Muxi couldn’t help but smile knowingly.

“Xiaoyin, you really are… so simple~”

“Simple?”

“Mhm. Simple and pure. But I really like that about you, Xiaoyin~ Anyway, about those desserts, while you were completely focused on finishing your sweet bun earlier, I already bought some for you. So…”

As she spoke, something appeared out of thin air in the girl’s hand, a beautifully decorated, delicious-looking slice of cake.

“Xiaoyin, this one’s for you too~”

The moment she saw the dessert, Tianyin’s thoughts and attention were completely taken over by it.

………………

After finishing the dessert that Xingyu Muxi had given her, Tianyin found herself a little bored.

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After all, she didn’t really have a concrete goal in this game world. And now that her food problem was solved, there wasn’t much left to worry about.

Hmm…

Wait.

Her eyes suddenly turned toward her Status Bar, at the HP gauge, which had returned to full.

10/10.

And immediately, her mind replayed the memories of bumping her hand, jumping off the bed, and tripping over nothing, each time losing HP.

“Ten HP… that’s way too low…”

Realizing how fragile her body really was, Tianyin muttered under her breath.

“What’s wrong, Xiaoyin?”

Seeing Tianyin’s serious expression as she muttered to herself, Xingyu Muxi asked curiously.

“Sister Xiaomu, do you think NPCs can level up?”

“NPCs?”

Xingyu Muxi blinked in surprise.

“Normally, NPC levels are fixed. I don’t think they can actually level up.”

“Eh, I see…”

Her response instantly crushed Tianyin’s idea of leveling up to make herself stronger.

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But Xingyu Muxi noticed the disappointment in her tone.

“Why are you suddenly asking that, Xiaoyin? Is there something you want to do?”

“Mm… it’s nothing serious. I just kind of wanted to raise my level.”

There was nothing embarrassing about that, so Tianyin said it honestly.

“If you just want to level up, Xiaoyin, you can team up with me and grind some monsters. It’s not that hard, you know?”

So, she still didn’t believe Tianyin was really an NPC…

Feeling helpless, Tianyin puffed up her cheeks in mild protest.

“I told you already, Sister Xiaomu, I’m an NPC! Grinding monsters to level up just isn’t possible for me!”

“Eh?!”

Now it was Xingyu Muxi’s turn to be shocked.

“Xiaoyin, you… you’re really not a player?”

“I’m an NPC! Sorry for disappointing you!”

“I-I see…”

With an apologetic smile, Xingyu Muxi’s mind was full of disbelief.

What astonished her was just how human-like this NPC in the Beginner’s Village was… so expressive and so lifelike.

For a moment, she even wondered if Tianyin was actually a staff member pretending to be an NPC.

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But that couldn’t be. The game’s control system was fully autonomous, and since it was managed by an independent AI core, there were no Game Master accounts. So, the odds of anyone manually roleplaying an NPC were basically zero.

And even if there were, why would someone pretend to be a level 1 loli NPC in the Beginner’s Village?

After thinking it over, Xingyu Muxi could only conclude that Tianyin was some sort of special-type NPC.

“Hmm… since Xiaoyin really is an NPC, then why do you want to level up?”

However, Tianyin didn’t plan to reveal her real reason.

After all, saying she wanted to level up because she was scared of dying from tripping over nothing would be way too embarrassing.

“Ugh… anyway, I just really want to level up!”

So, she decided to cover it up vaguely.

“Well, if that’s the case, Xiaoyin, why not come grind monsters with me?”

“Eh? But didn’t you say NPCs can’t level up that way?”

Tianyin was confused, after all, that rule had just come from Xingyu Muxi herself.

“Well, true, but if we don’t try, how will we know for sure?”

“Ugh… I guess that’s true…”

In the end, Tianyin decided she had to test it herself, to see if an NPC like her could really level up.